Governor’s budget would increase money for bio

Governor Janet Napolitano has proposed $60 million in direct funds from her fiscal 2008 budget to support Arizona’s sciences, with at least $25 million earmarked for biosciences .

The largest amount marked for the sciences was $35 million for Science Foundation Arizona to promote science, math, and innovation in the state.

The proposal also focused on expanding bioscience programs at state universities through an additional $25 million in funding.

Of that funding, the governor proposed allocating $4 million to Northern Arizona University to expand health professions programs in Flagstaff and the state, $2 million to Arizona State University to expand the teaching capacity of its biomedical informatics program, and $1.5 million to the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy to start a four-year doctoral program.

Napolitano also directed $6 million to expand enrollment at the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix, and $1 million for the UA’s telemedicine program at the downtown medical school.

If all goes according to plan, ASU and UA would also receive $10.5 in state funds for planning the Arizona Biomedical Collaborative-2 and education buildings downtown.